


Broken Liar (Dream #1)

by sciencepun (orphan_account)



Series: Dream - Short stories [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Assisted Suicide, Gen, Historical, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-21
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-03-18 21:10:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3584109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/sciencepun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Denmark took Iceland out for a walk. He didn't expect it to turn into a life lesson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Broken Liar (Dream #1)

**Author's Note:**

> Dream short stories blah blah blah this is the first in the series set at the end of the Dano-Norwegian union. Ugh computer crashed and this is the second time I'm writing this up ugh.
> 
> This has mentions of attempted suicide. Don't read this if suicide or suicide mentions trigger you!

 

The forests that surrounded their home had seemed a scary thing when Denmark had first made his home in the old abandoned mansion. Now they were a place of refuge from the empty air at home. There was just so much life in the forests. It was never silent. It was a place where he could go to just forget all his troubles and be peaceful. The perfect place to take young Iceland out for a walk. Ah. The poor kid. He'd just lost his brother and now it seemed that the whole stability of the family life the three of them had had together was to fall apart. One walk probably wouldn't make anything better but it would at least provide some form of distraction.

"Dan"

"Yeah?" He smiled fondly at the kid beside him.

"Where IS Noregur?"

"Tough question" Denmark put on a smile "Let me think about it"

He had to think fast. Of course Iceland was going to ask about his elder brother; It was only natural. It'd only been a few decades since Norway had moved Iceland to live with them when things had started to fall apart. But Denmark made sure to act, even now, as if there were still three of them. As if Norge had never left. That's probably what Iceland had picked up on. The fact that Denmark was pretending like everything was okay has maybe made it even more obvious that it wasn't. Had he been trying so hard to cover it all up that he's inadvertently given the game away? Iceland was a smart kid; It wasn't as if the Dane had expected him to ignore the sudden departure of his elder brother. What could save the game from being lost now? He could always keep pretending. He could use an excuse he'd used before when things got bad. An excuse he used whenever Nor had run off to get some time alone...

"He's off taking care of business"

"Who?"

For a moment Denmark stared at Iceland in utter confusion. Had he really taken so long to reply that Iceland had forgotten what they were talking about. Though that was probably a good thing. The sun came out from behind a cloud, illuminating their faces with dappled light from the green canopy above.

"I said 'Who?'"

"Norge" Denmark found himself murmuring the answer before he'd even had time to think about it.

"Where?"

"Sweden"

"Why?"

Denmark was still processing the rest of the question. He was still contemplating why his answers came so freely. That was unusual, even for him. He only thought about his words in certain situations but...this was one of those situations...right? Wait. Had he told Iceland where Norge was? He had. It had only just registered. Confused, he looked at Iceland for an answer. But Iceland was already asking another question. No. He asked 'Why?' several moments ago. There was something strange going on. Denmark squinted at Iceland, trying to understand what was going on. What was happening? He could feel himself about to reply; Another automatic response. He had to stop. He couldn't tell Iceland what was really happening.

"Because I" Denmark bit his tongue "Iceland stop with that"

"With what?" The child asked innocently, barely containing his sly smile.

"Take the amulet off" Denmark gestured to the long chain around Iceland's neck. "Come on Ice"

The amulet. Of course it was the amulet; One of Nor's. From looking closely Denmark figured that it was probably one with some kind of truth spell cast upon it. One that allowed the user to force someone to tell the truth. Iceland reluctantly lifted the chain over his head and held it out to the taller blond.

"I just want you to stop lying to me..." The boy muttered.

Denmark took the amulet and slipped it into his pocket.

"...for once...It'd be nice if you could tell me the truth..."

"Look, Ice" Denmark knelt down so that he was level with the other "I was telling the truth: Nor is off taking care of business in Sweden. He'll come back soon"

"You're lying" The statement was quiet enough but it was hard to miss the pain in Ice's voice.

"I remember a story that I told you when you first came here" Denmark smiled at the child. Iceland had been through so much. "I have a better version now. If it's a comfort to you?"

"Go ahead" Iceland muttered reluctantly.

"Once upon a time there were three viking warriors. They'd been through so much. More than you hopefully ever will. And do you know how old they were?" Denmark smiled invitingly.

"No"

"They were still kids. One was 11. Another was 10 and the youngest was 9. See? Mere babies. Yet they had fought in wars and they had hunted food. They'd explored the world. They'd seen everything. Can you imagine that?"

"I can't"

"That's because you haven't seen everything yet. And how old are you?"

"I'm 12" Iceland frowned, as though wondering what this had to do with the story.

"You're older than the oldest of those three. But you haven't seen everything. You know why?"

"Why?" Iceland looked mildly offended as he said it.

"There's so much to see. Back then there was a lot less. There were less people, less buildings, less countries. But do you know what never changes?" Denmark never let his smile drop, even though he knew that his story would be positively torturous for him.

"What? What never changes?"

"The reality that we all die. Sickness. Death. Loss. Pain. Suffering. It never changes. It's like the energy that is constant." He laughed, taking some of the weight off of his words. "Never more. Never less. None is created. None is destroyed. It's there forever. Humans can't change that. Heck, even a god couldn't change it. I'm not sure that the god we have now even wants to. Nothing changes."

Iceland looked down at his feet.

"That suffering is part of the 'everything' that they saw. And that's another reason why you haven't seen everything; You haven't suffered as much as they have."

"I suppose..." Iceland looked back at him, brow furrowed.

"Now let me tell you something else about these child Vikings. One day one of them, the 10 year old, stood at the edge of a cliff trying to talk the eldest from jumping. Trying to keep the eldest alive. 'But in a world with so much suffering isn't it better to be dead?' the eldest argued" Denmark shut his eyes "And this is how the 10 year old stopped them: 'You know what never changes? The reality that we are alive. When we exist, the reality is that we exist, so of course the things that come with existing also are reality. The things like love, faith, hope, friendship, colour, beauty, care, family and life. It fluctuates and changes, it lessens until it nearly vanishes and it swells to the point where it becomes dangerous but It never disappears. It's always there. There's always something to hold onto. Like now. Take my hand"

Iceland almost giggled at the last part.

"The eldest did that too" Denmark laughed "And he took the other's hand. What the other was doing, well, that was compassion. He wasn't going to let the eldest just die."

"What happened then?"

Iceland was just as engaged in the story as he'd been when Denmark had first told it. Though the first time he'd told a more tame version.

"Well, the youngest went away to travel. The other two stopped exploring. They stopped their quest to see everything because they'd already seen it. There's two parts to everything: The bad and the good. Sometimes it's hard to tell which is which but when those time come you should just listen to your gut. Your gut's probably right." Denmark stood up again "And that's the story of how I- I mean, the eldest, lived to fight another day"

Denmark sighed happily. The story was one he sometimes told himself when he felt alone. It wasn't a story really. It was more of a faint memory, where only what Nor had said back then had been clear. It was a comfort.

"But...what about Nore-"

"Iceland" Denmark interrupted "Whatever happens, whatever bad thing threatens to tear you down, you have to remember that there will always be something to hold on to. Always."

"I-"

"Never, Iceland, never let yourself slip into forgetting all the pure and beautiful things. I may be a liar but at least I'm not broken. I'm not a broken liar. I'm strong. You have to be strong as well. Nor is coming back. I'm not lying about that, Ice, I wouldn't lie about that"

  
  


 

**Author's Note:**

> Excuse my spelling. That was longer than usual. Next story has fluff and not just implied relationships. Thanks for reading!


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